During their 111 days in support of combat operations in Vietnam, they flew 1368 combat sorties against roads, bridges, and other targets to slow down the movement of North Vietnamese soldiers and materials to the south. For this action the squadron was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation medal.

Before returning to San Diego in December, 1966, the Chargers had lost 15 aircraft and 16 aircrewmen. One of those was Lt. Commander McBride.

On his last mission on October 22, 1966, his plane went missing over the South China Sea. His body was never recovered. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement for that last flight.

His daughter Roseanne posted this on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund site: “I was only 12 when my father left my life. We tried for years to find him and after 34 years we finally found his co-pilot who was also searching for us. After all these years, this kind man put to rest our fears that our father was captured or died in pain. Bless him, for he has now put peace in our hearts and we can put our father to rest (even tho the Navy says he is missing in action). Bless all those who served our country and gave up the ultimate, their lives. They are not gone as long as we remember them.”

Lackawannock Township, Mercer County, PA

U. S. Army – Vietnam

In Mercer County, Capt. Maurice Garrett Jr. is one of the most recognizable names among those on the Vietnam War Memorial. That’s largely because of the long-standing uncertainty as to whether or not it should be there.

The doubts started from the time of the initial investigation of his helicopter crash on October 22, 1971. Capt. Garrett was flying an AH1G Cobra on an armed visual reconnaissance mission out of Quang Tri, along with three other helicopters. The weather was “marginal,” so Capt. Garrett ordered the other copters to hold while he flew into a valley to check it out. Five minutes later, he reported that he had zero visibility and would return to Quang Tri on instruments.

He never made it. His helicopter apparently crashed after hitting some trees. The aircraft exploded with such force that few identifiable parts of the aircraft remained. A search of the area found the remains of his co-pilot, but none of Capt. Garrett.

That left investigators with two possible conclusions. Because of violence of the explosion, they concluded that Capt. Garrett couldn’t possibly have survived the inferno, and that his body had been completely destroyed in the fire.

However, there remained the slight possibility that Capt. Garrett had somehow survived because something should have survived, such as helmet, watch, dentures, boot eyelets, and dog tabs. But none of those were found.

This second possibility was reinforced in 1984 when the Garrett family was told by a private source that Capt. Garrett was alive. Seven other families received similar word. Although the U.S. government said the information was false, it renewed the hope that Capt. Garrett was still alive, possibly a prisoner of war – a hope shared by his family, friends, and MIA groups.

Whatever his fate, Capt. Garrett was a true hero in the Vietnam War. A paratrooper during his first tour in Vietnam from December 1967 to December 1968, he was wounded three times, and was awarded his first Silver Star for “utmost bravery and heroism.”

Jamestown, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

Trying to find information about a particular Vietnam fatality is a hit or miss operation. You have to start with the basic facts about the incident you are trying to find.

For example, you could know this about Merle Higgins: arrived in Vietnam on January 5, 1969; assigned to the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry (the “Manchus”); died of multiple fragmentation wounds received on June 5, 1969.

Then you search the Internet for his name, the unit, the date, the location, and anything else you can think of. After coming up dry, you are about to give up when you hit on a document called “Our Manchu Diary.” Forty-four pages long, it contains day-to-day troop movements, field operations, battles, casualties, and remembrances of from 1966 through 1970.

About half-way through, there it is:

“June 5 1969- Charlie Company reported VC in the bunker line; . . . Alpha Company reports that farmers in area said three VC companies moved out of Cambodia at 0300 hours into the Renegade Woods. Delta Company receiving small arms and RPG fire. Dust-off “163” completed (14 Delta WIA casualties) . . . . Sgt Higgins (Bravo Company) was seriously wounded by a claymore mine that was detonated by a sniper—died the next day [06-June-69] at the 45th Surgical Hospital.”

A claymore mine is a curved rectangular weapon, about 8.5 inches wide by five inches high, that projects about 700 steel balls in an arc of about 60 degrees. It certainly produces “multiple fragmentation wounds.”

Sgt. Higgins was born in Farmdale, OH. At the end of Merle’s 5th grade year, the family relocated to Jamestown, PA. After graduating from Pymatuning Joint High School in 1965, he attended Thiel College before entering the army in February 1969. He was survived by his parents, Ellis R. and Ruth Anderson Higgins, and two sisters, Marian and Nelly.

In the spring of 1992, his family established the “Merle R. Higgins Freedom Award” fund at Jamestown High School, not only to honor Merle, but also to remind people that freedom is not a cheap commodity. lt is a fragile ideal that only exists because of the suffering and sacrifice of brave men and women. This award is given annually to two deserving seniors (one male/one female) based on the character qualities of courage, honor, loyalty, determination and service.

Sgt. Higgins was the first Jamestown soldier to die in Vietnam within a two-month period.

Mercer, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

The terrain in Vietnam varies from the broad, flat flood plains of the Mekong Delta to the mountainous terrain of the central highlands, covered with triple canopy jungles. Miles Bradley Hedglin of Mercer ended up in the latter when he was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry [photos] in Kontum Province, in January, 1969.

We can get a sense of what he went through there by reading the memoirs of Robert Granger, another soldier who was there at the time. He tells of the things you would expect: night patrols, incoming mortar and artillery rounds, close calls, enemy attacks on their base camps.

But Granger also tells of other aspects of jungle combat in Vietnam. In March, 1969, encamped on a hill designated as Hill 467, Company B was bombarded with artillery, mortar, and rockets for days. A sniper wreaked havoc on them; an airstrike failed to silence him, and patrols sent out to locate him could not do so. Water and food were getting low, and enemy fire prevented helicopters from resupplying them.

Three soldiers brought back several ammo containers of water from a stream that wasn’t far away.

“We were given two canteens each,” Granger wrote. “I filtered the leaches and algae out through the top of a dirty sock, then added the iodine tablets. Later in the day, one of the guys from another platoon offered me $480 for a canteen of my water. I turned him down.”

Granger’s descriptions of events on March 25 are gruesome. Granger sums up the events of March 25 in a few words: “Haven’t had any sleep to speak of in days. The lack of water and food and constant shelling is taking its toll on everyone. A five minute nap is about all I can get at one time. The night time probing and hearing the digging, moaning of their wounded and movement just outside the wire, with it dark enough not to be able to see a thing keeps everyone alert every minute.”

He attributes his survival to his guardian angel, since a B-40 rocket and a hand grenade exploded close to him without even inflicting a wound. PFC Miles Hedglin’s guardian angel must have dozed off. Miles was killed while providing cover fire to free others in his unit.

To get a sense of what PFC Hedglin experienced during his last few days, you can read an after action report covering the 2nd Battalion 8th Infantry from March 17 through March 21, 1969, just a few days before PFC Hedglin was killed.

Paul McKnight

Fredonia, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

According to friends who knew Paul McKnight in school, he was a quiet young man. His parents, John and Martha McKnight, once owned a farm that was east of Clarksville, PA, on land that is now under Shenango Lake. His older sister, Elaine, born with spinal bifida, passed away in her 20s.

When he graduated from Reynolds High School in 1965, Paul followed a military tradition in his family. Three of his uncles served in World War II – Paul and Robert Yarian, and Eugene Leiphiemer. Two cousins, Dale Jackson Miller and Harold E. Miller, served in Korea.

Paul enlisted in the Army on April 24, 1966. In January, 1967, he left for his first tour in Vietnam. He was wounded twice in March, 1967, before he returned to the states, for which he was awarded two Purple Hearts.

During the summer of 1969, the 1st Cav must also have conducted operations in Binh Long to the northeast of Tay Ninh. It was there that Sgt McKnight was killed. For his actions, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with “V” device for valor. Here is an excerpt from his citation for that award:

“On a combat mission in Binh Long, he and the members of his squad came under heavy automatic weapons fire from an unknown hostile force in a night ambush site while trying to retrieve abandoned equipment. Sgt. McKnight returned the fire and directed his fire team during the fight. In the exchange he was killed.”

West Middlesex, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

On the evening of December 8, 1967, soldiers of the 1st Battalion 2nd Infantry were complaining that their air mattresses were full of holes from enemy mortar fire. Maybe they were seriously upset, but more likely it was their way of dissipating the stress caused by a rough day.

They were positioned in Phuoc Long Province, not far from the Cambodian border. The day before, one of their recon patrols had encountered the point element of a North Vietnamese army unit. The fight lasted only a short time, with no American casualties. That successful recon alerted the Americans to the presence of the large NVA force.

At 0200 the following morning, Specialist Paul Dufford from West Middlesex was manning a listening post with two other men in front of the battalion’s night defensive position. Detecting movement in the area, he radioed the battalion commander to warn of an impending attack. Their position was quickly surrounded by a large force. In spite of the danger, Specialist Dufford remained at his post so he could advise the commander on the size and movement of the enemy.

With the battalion being hit by heavy mortar fire, the three men were ordered to return to the perimeter, but their position was overrun before they could do so. An enemy grenade wounded all three men. Specialist Dufford killed the grenade thrower, who was only a few feet away. Ignoring the relentless enemy fire, he started to help his wounded comrades back to the perimeter. As the enemy closed in, he provided suppressing fire that allowed his comrades to reach safety.

He himself didn’t make it. He was killed my an enemy mortar round.

That day, the American forces repelled the massive assault with only four dead and a number wounded. The two battalions of the two 273rd NVA regiment that conducted the attack suffered massive casualties.

Had it not been for the bravery of Specialist Paul Dufford, the outcome might have been very different. For his heroism that night, he was awarded the Silver Star.

Greenville, PA

U.S. Army, Vietnam

Paul Frederick Foulk of Greenville was drafted in October, 1968, but unlike most draftees, he could have avoided being sent to Vietnam.

“My father knew a high ranking person in the army who said he could arrange for Paul to be assigned to Germany,” said his sister, Linda Brown. “But Paul wouldn’t do that. He volunteered to go to Vietnam because he felt it was his duty.”

When Paul was in training in Oklahoma, his friends thought he was in big trouble. A lieutenant colonel came to the barracks looking for him. But it was just one of his dad’s friends coming to take him home for dinner.

The problem with firing artillery at the enemy is that artillery pieces make a lot of noise and blow out a lot of smoke. That makes you a prime target for enemy artillery.

Sometimes you luck out.

“A guy who knew him in Vietnam visited us,” Linda said. “He said that one time a mortar round or something landed near Paul, but it didn’t go off. “They figured out that it was a time release bomb, the first one they had ever seen. A lot of officials came in to check it out.”

And sometimes you don’t luck out. On September 7, 1969, Paul was killed by an enemy round.

He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Donald G. Foulk, and by two sisters, Linda and Judy.

There, conventional military maneuvers couldn’t be used because many stream, rivers, and canals severely restricted ground movement. The solution was to use helicopters and converted Navy vessels to insert army troops into areas where they were needed and to provide firepower in support of their operations. Because of the novelty of the situation, both equipment and tactics had to be invented.

As one member of the MRF wrote, “The Navy did the most in terms of development of equipment and how to use it. The Army did the same old stuff, only wetter. We went to war in boats and then got out and walked, waded, wallowed, swam, crawled, or ran until we were picked up again.”

The ships ranged in size from large troop ships, each of which provided living space for more than 800 troops, to armored troop carriers, modified LSTs that could carry an infantry platoon, and smaller, faster Swift Boats. Used to insert and extract infantry from combat situations, they also provided close-in fire support with 20mm cannons, .50 caliber machine guns, and grenade launchers, as well as small arms. Some of the larger vessels carried 105mm howitzers.

Planning for the MRF had begun in the summer of 1966, and the first elements arrived in January, 1967. By summer, 1967, enough river craft had been deployed to carry out sustained search and destroy missions. The full complement of vessels was not assembled until 1968.

That means that PFC Good participated in some of the earliest combat conducted by the MRF, including a major battle on June 19, 1967. Helicopters and Navy boats moved his unit into an area full of Vietcong troops. The ensuing battle left more than 250 Vietcong dead; 47 Americans were killed and many wounded. One platoon had 13 left out of the 35 who started the day.

After the battle, Paul Good was reported as missing. His body was recovered later.

Hermitage, PA

U.S. Army – Vietnam

When 1st Lt. Paul J. Hess, Jr., was deployed to Vietnam on September 14, 1966, he was assigned to very hazardous duty. As a Special Forces officer in the Central Highlands, he worked with a Civilian Irregular Defense Group – a counterinsurgency operation in which U.S. Special Forces worked with Vietnamese villagers to defend villages and conduct combat operations. His character and personal commitment was evident when he started a boy scout troop among the tribes that surrounded his base camp.

Despite the demands of his daily military duties, Lt. Hess remembered the folks back home. He sent a flag from Vietnam to the Shenango Valley Veteran’s Day Parade Committee.

On Veteran’s Day, November 11, 1966, the day the flag was used in the parade, Lt. Hess was killed in combat.

Descriptions of specific incidents in the Vietnam War are hard to find, but the web site of the 174th Assault Helicopter Company presents a detailed report of Lt. Hess’s last mission. According to Lt. Col. Marty Heuer, who served in 174th AHC, Lt. Hess was an observer on a helicopter gunship in support of a 25th Infantry Division operation against an enemy stronghold west or Pleiku, near the Cambodian border.

The rectangular landing zone was about two-thirds the size of a football field, mostly level, covered with three- to five-feet tall elephant grass, with two trees in the center. It was surrounded by triple-canopy jungle with 150-feet tall trees – perfect cover and concealment for the enemy.

Unfortunately, the LZ was beyond the range of any supporting artillery. The operation commander decided to continue with just the firepower provided by a dozen helicopter gunships in support of the troop-carrying “slicks” – UH1-B helicopters lacking weapons pods, with firepower provided only by door gunners operating 50-caliber machine guns.

Lt. Hess was aboard one of the gunships as an observer and possibly door gunner. As the helicopter was making a gunrun at low level, it was hit by small arms and/or 50-caliber machine gun fire. It exploded and crashed into the jungle in a ball of fire.

When examined later, the gunship was found to have been perforated with 99 holes from small arms fire.

Paul was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. Hess, Sr. He also left behind his wife, nee Donna Saibene; daughter Kimberly Ruth; three sisters and two brothers.

Paul W. Bush

Greenville, PA

U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam

When First Lieutenant Paul W. Bush of Greenville arrived in Vietnam during April, 1967, he was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines at Khe Sanh, just south of the border with North Vietnam.

Because the Command Chronologies of the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines have been published, we can read detailed accounts of what occurred during that entire time period. Take, for example, 22 March 1968. It lists 74 items for that one day, ranging from hundreds of rounds of incoming rockets, artillery, and mortar fire, to the filling of 50 sandbags.

For the friends and family of First Lieutenant Paul W. Bush, including his new wife Patty, the only item that matters is item 68: the direct hit on C Company’s command post. The after-action report tells that the it killed three Marines. One of them was Lt. Bush. Another hit in the second platoon area killed two more Marines.

“He was a really bright guy,” said his brother, James Busch. “He graduated from Thiel in 1966 magna cum laude. He joined the Marines because he knew he was going to be drafted.”